Board of Education asks public for its priorities in tough fiscal climate

Overcrowding, school modernizations, keeping students safe tops lists

At a Thursday public forum, Gaithersburg PTSA president Deanna Duff raised concerns to the Board of Education about a staffing reduction to the College Institute program. In the background, those from the Gaithersburg cluster stand in support.

"Priorities" was the buzzword Thursday evening at the first of two community forums hosted by the Montgomery County Board of Education.

The strategic planning forum, held at Quince Orchard High School, sought to solicit input from the public about the school's strategic plan and the fiscal 2011 operating budget. Community members who gathered to give the board their two cents were asked to answer a simple question — "During difficult economic times, what priorities in the Montgomery County Public Schools strategic plan should we focus on for the 2010-2011 school year to improve achievement for all students?"

The answers, however, weren't quite as straightforward. The forum drew representatives from schools countywide who voiced a range of concerns —among them school overcrowding and renovations, staffing and accessibility.

"We recognize that funding for the next budget year is expected to be at least as scarce as this year. And this year's budget is already a bare-bones budget," said Kay Romero, president of the Montgomery County Council of Parent-Teacher Associations, at the forum. "It's important that we keep our focus on the essentials."

Those essentials, according to Romero, included keeping class sizes small, keeping students safe and emphasizing communication between parents and teachers.

Some came to the forum to address staffing reductions to school programs. Deanna Duff, president of the Gaithersburg High School PTSA, came out in support of a full-time coordinator for the College Institute Program, which brings college-level courses to high school students at schools including Gaithersburg and Thomas S. Wootton. The coordinator position was slashed to half-time this year, which Duff said threatened what was a successful and popular program with 25 percent of the senior class participating. "We do not see how MCPS can support a program for 25 percent of our senior class with only a part-time coordinator position," Duff said. "We fear that the program will not be able to continue to build on its success without a full-time coordinator."

For others, "priorities" meant keeping school modernizations on track and curbing overcrowding. Kevin David, a cluster coordinator for the Seneca Valley cluster, advocated for keeping the modernization of Seneca Valley High School on schedule for 2017. However, David said the cluster was concerned the economic climate would force the modernization to be pushed back and that Seneca Valley "will fall into the black hole of disrepair," he said.

Overcrowding has proven to be a problem at Waters Landing Elementary School, he said, and representatives from Rachel Carson Elementary School echoed the concern.

Others urged a continued focus on accessibility for those who speak English as a second language. Through a translator, parent Qin Chen said in her native Chinese that ESOL parent community coordinators helped her learn to access information in Chinese on the MCPS Web site and become more involved in her children's education. "Right now, we are under a very difficult economic situation, but I sincerely hope that MCPS keeps all these important ESOL services — for if not because of these bilingual services, I wouldn't have stood here to share with you my experiences," she said.

MCPS affords the community multiple ways to voice their concerns, according to Aggie Alvez, director of communications and family outreach at MCPS. "It's one of many ways to get feedback, but it's not the only way," Alvez said of the forums, pointing to TIP — or Tell it Please —feedback cards distributed to school communities and handed out at meetings.